Essential political theory: Political capital grows when used. It shrinks when not used.

[Gravitycollapse]

When we talk about Obama utilizing political capital to enact things like the Affordable Care Act, we are building a scenario where his political capital would increase, not be depleted.

This is similar to the concept of "social capital" put forth by people like Robert Putnam. Social capital is built through solidarity, accomplishing shared goals and meeting the needs of the community. It is depleted in times of public turmoil or even when it is not used at all.

Political capital is a mandate by the electorate for the elected to accomplish his or her stated agenda. By accomplishing his or her stated agenda, satisfying the expectations of the public, the elected gains further political capital.

In other words, to those people saying that Obama used up a lot of political capital getting the ACA passed, that doesn't make any sense. If political capital was lost, it was precisely because Obama failed in some capacity to accomplish his stated agenda. Which in turn is dissatisfying to the electorate's expectations and depletes political capital.


Anyway, I felt like that needed to be brought up.

[barbtries]

1. the republicans in NC

are going for broke.

[Fumesucker]

2. The whole point of having capital is to gain interest on it, which increases your capital

That would tend to support your view.

[Recursion]

3. There are two models of social/political capital

The collaborationalist model is like you describe; the confrontational model is what you're arguing against. Both are variously applicable to Presidents and Congress -- the confrontational model is most famously shown by the Shelby and Jeffords defections in the Senate.

[LostOne4Ever]

4. Its lost

when supporting unpopular policies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_capital


[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_capital[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Political capital must be spent to be useful, and will generally expire by the end of a politician's term in office. In addition, it can be wasted, typically by failed attempts to promote unpopular policies that are not central to a politician's agenda.


And thanks to the RW media propaganda it was NOT popular around the mid-terms:


[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act#Political[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]The passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress, particularly Democrats, in the months leading up to the election. Many Republicans ran on a promise to repeal the law, and beat incumbent Democratic opponents who had voted in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The poll numbers and the losses we experienced during the mid-term election show this happened.

Discussion from http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2827899